AuthorTopic: Georges' Guitars (Read 21786 times)

I wondered if the lighting brought out the redness, HG. Most I've seen are darker. But it's a beautiful instrument.

Thanks for the concern about the loss of the Rick. But to be honest I was kinda embarrassed to play a bright red "Glenn Frey" model. I used the money to buy other equipment I needed. HG, I also love that Vibroverb look. Very cool.

Yes, the flash brings out some red hues. Here's another picture of my Country Gentleman, still with a flash but less redness from this angle. That's a Gibson Tune-O-Matic Bridge replacing the original Gretsch Bar Bridge (which resides in the case):

The brown Tolex gives the Vibroverb a very vintage look. Fender went to black Tolex in 1964.

Well, it seems that guitar was really not George's but Rory Best's, Pete Best's brother.

In the superb book David Bedford, Liddypool, Birthplace of The Beatles, Deerfield, Dalton Watson Fine Books, 2009, p. 127, the author interviews Rory -which, by the way, displays his Futurma with him in a photo dated 2008- and this one says:

"He [George] had this great Futurama guitar which, when he opened it upstairs [at The Casbah], was like looking at the Holy Grail". Rory recalled: "This was the closest you could get to the American Fenders. I liked it so much that I went out the next day and bought one. I couldn't play it but I had to have one. Afetr George broke the neck on his [just before going to Hamburg for the first time in 1960, August the 16th.], he came to me and said, 'Can I borrow your guitar, Rory?' so I said, 'Okay, as long as you teach me to play it'. He said okay, and eighteen months later I got it back, battered. And he didn't teach me to play either"

So this means that ALL the photos with George playing a Futurama guitar, don't show his but Rory's...

"...Just before they had left for Hamburg, George had broken the neck of his [Futurama] guitar and had to return it to be repaired. He asked if he could borrow Rory's guitar to tide him over and on his return, tried to sell it to another band member for £30. Thankfully, George was turned down..."

I found this story confirmed in Roag Best's book 'The Beatles The True Beginnings'.Quote from Paul McCartney: " We'd all seen these pictures of Americans with these posh guitars, Fenders and Stratocasters, but really none of us could afford them and anyway they just weren't around. But this guitar came out called the Futurama that really looked like the posh guitars so then it was the bee's knees. I remember George upstairs in the front parlour, opening the guitar case. It was like a moment of pure magic. He opened it and there it was, like the holy grail."Rory Best: "George had a problem with the neck of his guitar. Futuramas were made in Yugoslavia and it had to be sent there to be repaired. He asked if he could borrow mine and I said, 'Only if you teach me guitar.' So he borrowed it for a year, I think. He never did teach me. And what was an absolute pristine guitar came back somewhat the worse for wear, shall we say."

I found this story confirmed in Roag Best's book 'The Beatles The True Beginnings'.Quote from Paul McCartney: " We'd all seen these pictures of Americans with these posh guitars, Fenders and Stratocasters, but really none of us could afford them and anyway they just weren't around. But this guitar came out called the Futurama that really looked like the posh guitars so then it was the bee's knees. I remember George upstairs in the front parlour, opening the guitar case. It was like a moment of pure magic. He opened it and there it was, like the holy grail."Rory Best: "George had a problem with the neck of his guitar. Futuramas were made in Yugoslavia and it had to be sent there to be repaired. He asked if he could borrow mine and I said, 'Only if you teach me guitar.' So he borrowed it for a year, I think. He never did teach me. And what was an absolute pristine guitar came back somewhat the worse for wear, shall we say."

There's a picture of the guitar included and it does look battered.

Yes. I also got the book and I read that clip after posting my last message...

It's clear that the famous George's Futurama, seen at so many pictures in Hamburg and Liverpool in 1960-61, was not George's by Rory's. Another unearthed myth...

Hey guys, just wanted to pop in and say that this is a great thread! I didn't realise George had quite so many guitars, and this thread has helped to broaden my guitar horizons and admire the ones I like even more. And also to be jealous of George for having so much fab equipment! And that picture of him on the first page with him standing at the back of a room FULL of his guitars... I bet that's what George looks like in Heaven. Just a whole bunch of guitars, good sounds and good friends.

xxx

Logged

Limitless, undying love, which shines around me like a million suns, it calls me on and on, across the universe.Proud author of "It's Only Love: A John Lennon Romance"!

So, if I read it correctly: George HAD a Futurama, but it is Rory's that is in most pictures from Hamburg.

That is. Correct...

BTW: on page 33 of Andy Babiuk's book there is a -very small- reproduction of Hessy's HP book for Paul McCartney's purchase of his Solid 7 guitar. Has anybody ever come across with a bigger reproduction of that document??

Been a guitar player since I was 8, and have a Gretsch Duo Jet (bought because George had one - yes I'm that shallow!) and a few others. Once I get my Country Gent I'll give up as it really is the ultimate for me.

If there are any other guitarists out there, and interested in having a look at my collection (well some of them!), here are a few:

(You can see the George canvas reflected in the Liverpool shirt!)

Sorry for bringing mine into a thread about George's guitars, but if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have the obssession I have. For that, I will also be extremely grateful to George for making me a guitarist

"First really decent guitar": George Harrison and the Gretsch Duo Jet guitar. A $20,000 replica arrives in stores in May.

By Brian Mansfield, Special for USA TODAYWhen George Harrison played Liverpool's Cavern Club with The Beatles in the early '60s, he had a Gretsch Duo Jet in his hands.

Now, Gretsch Guitars is putting a limited-run tribute model of the instrument Harrison described as his "first really decent guitar" into the hands of fans.

Harrison played the Duo Jet, known for its trebly tone, on The Beatles' first album (called Meet the Beatles in the USA). It's also pictured on Harrison's 1987 Cloud Nine album.

"I've never seen a more precise and detailed replica of any guitar in my life," says Harrison's son, Dhani.

The tribute Duo Jets, limited to a run of 60, arrive in stores in May with a suggested retail price of $20,000.

That's considerably more than the $210 merchant sailor Ivan Hayward paid for the original at Manny's Music during a late-'50s stopover in New York.

"It didn't have a huge body, and you could get it flat into your body and move with it," says Hayward, now 74. "It was like the nearest thing to making love to a woman. That's what it meant in those days."

Hayward kept the Duo Jet three years before selling it. Harrison recalled finding it through a newspaper ad, but Hayward says the young Beatle learned of it via word of mouth.

Hayward remembers the teenage Harrison as "a bit rough" and wearing tight pants and a jacket made of black plastic. "It was hard to get leather in them days."

Hayward wanted 90 pounds (about $255 at the time) for the guitar, but Harrison had just 70, "all crumpled, smelling, what you get paid when you go on gig, a handful of beer money," Hayward says. Harrison eventually took the guitar and left the 70 pounds and an IOU (a copy of which is included with the tribute guitar). Hayward later went to see Harrison's band play a local church dance, but they never talked again. (The debt has since been settled.)

The CAT scan also resolved a question about a flaw on the neck that resembles a crack.

"The doctor zeroed in on it, like you would a human bone, and said if it was cracked we would see it; there was no fracture at all," Carducci says. "So that line, that finish flaw, is included in the reproduced guitar."

I'm fascinated by George's trip in Sept '63 (with his brother Peter) to visit his newly married sister Louise in Benton, Illinois. I'm a Chicago historian and a guitar player as well ('54 Strat, '68 Marshall Artiste) and am interested in anything relating to that trip. He not only bought a guitar that trip ( a Rickenbacker, misidentified as a Model 425 that he had painted black to match John's)) but he bought an armload of American records..30 in all according to his new American buddy Gabe McCarty (guitarist with local group the 4 Vests with whom George jammed onstage at a local VFW hall ) including the single "I Got My Mind Set On You" (his recording of this minor hit was the last time a Beatle had a No. 1 record in America!)...does anybody know what other recordings he may have brought home in that batch of 30? Did he carry this treasure trove of American records with him over the years as he moved? Olivia?

nimrod

"First really decent guitar": George Harrison and the Gretsch Duo Jet guitar. A $20,000 replica arrives in stores in May.

By Brian Mansfield, Special for USA TODAYWhen George Harrison played Liverpool's Cavern Club with The Beatles in the early '60s, he had a Gretsch Duo Jet in his hands.

Now, Gretsch Guitars is putting a limited-run tribute model of the instrument Harrison described as his "first really decent guitar" into the hands of fans.

Harrison played the Duo Jet, known for its trebly tone, on The Beatles' first album (called Meet the Beatles in the USA). It's also pictured on Harrison's 1987 Cloud Nine album.

"I've never seen a more precise and detailed replica of any guitar in my life," says Harrison's son, Dhani.

The tribute Duo Jets, limited to a run of 60, arrive in stores in May with a suggested retail price of $20,000.

That's considerably more than the $210 merchant sailor Ivan Hayward paid for the original at Manny's Music during a late-'50s stopover in New York.

"It didn't have a huge body, and you could get it flat into your body and move with it," says Hayward, now 74. "It was like the nearest thing to making love to a woman. That's what it meant in those days."

Hayward kept the Duo Jet three years before selling it. Harrison recalled finding it through a newspaper ad, but Hayward says the young Beatle learned of it via word of mouth.

Hayward remembers the teenage Harrison as "a bit rough" and wearing tight pants and a jacket made of black plastic. "It was hard to get leather in them days."

Hayward wanted 90 pounds (about $255 at the time) for the guitar, but Harrison had just 70, "all crumpled, smelling, what you get paid when you go on gig, a handful of beer money," Hayward says. Harrison eventually took the guitar and left the 70 pounds and an IOU (a copy of which is included with the tribute guitar). Hayward later went to see Harrison's band play a local church dance, but they never talked again. (The debt has since been settled.)

The CAT scan also resolved a question about a flaw on the neck that resembles a crack.

"The doctor zeroed in on it, like you would a human bone, and said if it was cracked we would see it; there was no fracture at all," Carducci says. "So that line, that finish flaw, is included in the reproduced guitar."

Rory Best: "George had a problem with the neck of his guitar. Futuramas were made in Yugoslavia and it had to be sent there to be repaired. He asked if he could borrow mine and I said, 'Only if you teach me guitar.' So he borrowed it for a year, I think. He never did teach me. And what was an absolute pristine guitar came back somewhat the worse for wear, shall we say."

I'm interested in this quote because former Yugoslavia is mentioned (I live in one of the countries of the former country).But, as I searched the net, I found out that Futuramas were made in then Chekoslovakia:

So, did Rory confuse Chekoslovakia with Yugoslavia (-slovakia, slavia - it sounds similar) - or was the guitar really sent to Yugoslavia to be repaired?!

I think that the first option is more likely - mistaking Chekoslovakia for Yugoslavia. If it was sent to Yugoslavia, then the manufacturer had to have a storeor repair shop in Yugoslavia. That wouldn't be unlikely - the both countries were socialistic and people were interested in r'n'r, so it is theoretically possible. But I never heard anything about George's guitar was on a repair in Yugoslavia - and I cannot find anything on the net that would confirm that.